A former Richardson ISD school board member has sued the school district and its board of trustees, alleging "continuous and systematic" violations of the state's open meetings law.

David Tyson Jr. -- a black businessman who has challenged the validity of the all-white board in the diverse district -- said in the civil lawsuit that the school board has participated in a long-running practice of violating the state's open meetings laws. The result, he alleged, has been that votes are merely "rubber-stamp" formalities.

The suit filed in Dallas County states that in the last seven years, the board has often deliberated outside the public's view and decided almost every issue -- more than 500 votes total -- unanimously.

District spokesman Chris Moore said in an email that Richardson ISD had not been served with the lawsuit. Justin Bono, the school board president, also said he hadn't seen the suit and could not comment.

Former Richardson ISD school board member David Tyson Jr.

(Ron Baselice/Staff Photographer)

The suit specifically focuses on a part of the law that prohibits a "walking quorum," which is when members of a governmental body discuss public business outside of a public meeting to avoid requirements under the Texas Open Meetings Act.

"The board's flagrant and persistent violations of TOMA have denied the public the opportunity to participate in the democratic process," Tyson's suit states.

The suit explicitly describes how these alleged unofficial meetings were conducted. Tyson alleged that a few members privately gathered to reach a consensus on an issue, and then they sent emails, texts or voicemails to other board members to reach an agreement outside a regular school board session.

Board members would then delete electronic communication detailing the deliberations, according to the lawsuit.

Brewer said the board's lock-step decision-making could hurt some of the district's students.

"You show up at these meetings and get zero insight into how these decisions are being made," said Brewer, whose law firm's community service legal affiliate Brewer Storefront is handling the case.

Houston lawyer Joseph Larsen, who serves on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board, said walking quorum cases are rare because they can be difficult to prove.

"You've got to establish their state of mind from circumstantial evidence, unless somebody comes right out and says, 'Yeah, we did it,'" he said in a phone interview. "Or unless there's some kind of documentary evidence that shows it."

But Brewer disagreed and believes such cases aren't difficult to prove. He said the firm's community service affiliate has successfully brought similar Texas Open Meetings Act cases, including one against the city of Farmers Branch and its council in 2012.

The new lawsuit puts Tyson in his second legal fight against the district. In January, he filed a separate lawsuit in federal court against Richardson ISD alleging that its at-large election system, under which board members are elected to serve district-wide, violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In that suit, Tyson alleges the voting system discourages minority candidates from seeking office and that Richardson ISD's all-white board contributes to racially segregated schools and an "egregious achievement gap." That case is still pending in federal court.

Tyson served two terms on Richardson ISD's school board from 2004 to 2010. It's unclear from the lawsuit whether or not he had firsthand knowledge of a walking quorum practice during his tenure on the board.

When asked about whether his client participated or witnessed a walking quorum while on the board, Brewer declined to comment. But he said the focus on the board's practice began in 2011 when a federal judge lifted part of a 1970 federal desegregation order.

Brewer said the removal of the order "means there was no longer any judicial oversight, and that of course is the concern."